Hampton teen charged in Portsmouth crash on day she gets license

Wednesday

Apr 28, 2010 at 3:15 AMApr 28, 2010 at 5:25 AM

By GEOFF CUNNINGHAM Jr.gcunningham@fosters.com

PORTSMOUTH —A Hampton teen was arrested on the day she received her driver's license after she drove off Portsmouth Boulevard and struck an electrical box resulting in a loss of power at a nearby retail plaza, according to police.

Brittney Newell, 16, of 23 Taylor River Estates in Hampton is alleged to have lied to police about operating the vehicle when she told them an older operator was driving and had fled into the woods.

Police were summoned to 100 Portsmouth Boulevard at roughly 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday for a report of a motor vehicle having driven off the road and into a ditch.

The call came in at the same time Portsmouth firefighters were summoned to the nearby K-Mart Plaza for a report of an alarm activation that had resulted from a power surge.

Portsmouth Police Lt. Rodney McQuate said Newell was operating an SUV that left the road and hit a power box located on the ground.

"She basically drove off the road and hit an electrical box, which took out power to some stores," McQuate said.

McQuate said Newell had just gotten her driver's license earlier in the day and was found to be operating the car in violation of her probationary license because she was driving with two other young males in the vehicle.

Newell is being charged as an adult and is facing a violation level charge of negligent driving and a violation of her probationary license.

She is also facing a Class B misdemeanor charge of disobeying a police officer for allegedly lying about the circumstances of the accident when the first officer arrived.

McQuate said the youth initially reported an older woman was driving the vehicle during the time of the crash.

McQuate said minor injuries sustained by Newell from the vehicle's air bag deployment led an officer to question the youth and police say she later admitted to being the driver.

Newell was released on bail to the custody of her father.

Police are still investigating what caused the vehicle to exit the roadway.